Steam & Excursion > Regular Folks Like Steam, Too

In addition to all the rabid fans chasing the 4014 across Wyoming, regular townsfolk turn out to see the show, too.

Using portable chairs and a tailgate to sit on, a family waits at Evanston to witness 4014's departure on Monday morning.

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Regular folks.......Does that mean that railfans are irregular???  LOL.  

The absence of foam is a dead giveaway . . .

Looks to me like Dad's trying to talk the woman and the girls into realizing they'e happy to be there.....without a lot of success.  If that were my family, I'd be there alone because no one would agree to come along.......no one,  not my kids or my grandkids, got the railroad gene, sigh.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

agentatascadero Wrote:
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> Looks to me like Dad's trying to talk the woman
> and the girls into realizing they'e happy to be
> there.....without a lot of success.  If that were
> my family, I'd be there alone because no one would
> agree to come along.......no one,  not my kids or
> my grandkids, got the railroad gene, sigh.
>
> AA

I feel very lucky that my wife was willing to spend several days, including Sunday - which was both Mother's Day and our 35th wedding anniversary - chasing the train with me.  I can't say those thirty-five years have made her a full-blown railfan yet, but at least I've got her to "train curious".

Dave

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DavidP Wrote:
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> I feel very lucky that my wife was willing to
> spend several days, including Sunday - which was
> both Mother's Day and our 35th wedding anniversary
> - chasing the train with me.  I can't say those
> thirty-five years have made her a full-blown
> railfan yet, but at least I've got her to "train
> curious".
>
> Dave

Happy anniversary, you guys! She's a keeper, Dave!

Jim Lee
Lake Hopatcong, NJ

DavidP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> agentatascadero Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Looks to me like Dad's trying to talk the woman
> > and the girls into realizing they'e happy to be
> > there.....without a lot of success.  If that
> were
> > my family, I'd be there alone because no one
> would
> > agree to come along.......no one,  not my kids
> or
> > my grandkids, got the railroad gene, sigh.
> >
> > AA
>
> I feel very lucky that my wife was willing to
> spend several days, including Sunday - which was
> both Mother's Day and our 35th wedding anniversary
> - chasing the train with me.  I can't say those
> thirty-five years have made her a full-blown
> railfan yet, but at least I've got her to "train
> curious".
>
> Dave

Dave,  I do know how to spell "envy".

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

I was really impressed at the number of "normal" folks, entire familes in a lot of cases, who came out to see "Big Boy".  Kids all over the place.  The railroad was lined by folks for mile after mile.  As a railfan photog it was almost impossible to find a place without people in the way, and eventually you realize for this event they are part of the scene, so frame them in!  UP must must have done an extensive and very effective media blitz, and the folks in Omaha (except maybe for the liability lawyers) must be thrilled with the results.   And hopefully that will help convince the number crunchers that the money spent on the steam program is worth the good PR.

JBWX

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My wife is a full on rail fan with me. She has done the engineer time with me on #734 at WM and the #40, I believe, at NN. Once she took the throttle she was hooked even more. She took time off of work many years ago just to watch 4014 get moved across the Pomona Fairgrounds to the current Rail Giants site, which was before I met her. She spent several days at the Pomona Faigrounds parking lot with me watching panel track being carefully laid down and the 4014 being towed very slowly when 4014 was heading to Cheyenne. She was there when we watched Metrolink cut their rails in the middle of the night to bring 4014 back onto the national rail system as it was leaving Pomona for its' trip to Cheyenne. She toughed it out in the "open air" car of the Joliet Rocket last September for all four trips. She and I did the Bend trip behind 4449 on two separate occasions. She has done several 3751 trips with me as well. I feel very fortunate to be able to share one of my passions in life with her.

-Fred-

DavidP Wrote:

> I feel very lucky that my wife was willing to
> spend several days, including Sunday - which was
> both Mother's Day and our 35th wedding anniversary
> - chasing the train with me.  I can't say those
> thirty-five years have made her a full-blown
> railfan yet, but at least I've got her to "train
> curious".
>
> Dave

Congrats to you two!  You are fortunate in your long years of marriage as well as having her company as a rail companion.  Wishing you both many more happy years together in all your endeavors! 🙏😊